A busy week for library openings in the Richmond, VA area.
The Renovated and Expanded Academic Library
After a $50.8 million renovation And expansion Virginia Commonwealth University’s James Branch Cabell Library Opens
From the Richmond Times-Dispatch
The library has expanded and morphed to reflect the way students use it today, VCU President Michael Rao said Tuesday at a celebration of the project’s completion.
But at its heart, the library remains as the ancient Egyptians called it, “medicine for the soul,” Rao said.
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The project tripled the space for the library’s Special Collections section and increased security for the rare books, manuscripts and comic art housed there.
From the Fredericksburg Freelance-Star:
The Cabell renovation-construction project, which started in December 2013, added 93,000 square feet to the facility and improved 63,000 square feet of previously existing space. The library features an expanded 3,400-square-foot Starbucks, 3,000 student seats (double the previous number) and 175 more silent study seats.
To help fund furnishings and other items not covered by the state, the Cabell Foundation, a philanthropic organization in Richmond, awarded a $1 million challenge grant to VCU Libraries. The library system will get the money if it raises $1 million in new gifts and pledges by June 30, 2017.
See Also: VCU Libraries Construction Info ||| Live Webcam
The New Public Library
A New Public Library Opens in Chesterfield County, Virginia
From the Richmond Times-Dispatch:
The irony was hardly lost on anyone that Chesterfield County’s new flagship library formally opened on a Thursday, the one weekday when most of the county’s libraries are closed because of budget cuts during the recession.
The $12.3 million North Courthouse Road Library project has been in the making since 2004, when county residents approved bonds totaling $341.7 million. In the subsequent years, planners for the county’s 10th public library ran into several roadblocks, including a national financial crisis and a fire that was ruled an arson.
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